SF 49ers: Final bubble watch ahead of Week 1 roster cuts
By Peter Panacy
SF 49ers Linebackers
Lock: Kwon Alexander, Dre Greenlaw, Fred Warner
Strong bubble: Azeez Al-Shaair, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, Mark Nzeocha
Weak bubble: Joe Walker
Long shot: none
The SF 49ers may be forced to test their linebacker depth early in 2020, considering Fred Warner is already on the reserve/COVID-19 list and will have to clear that before taking the field again.
Likewise, fellow linebacker Dre Greenlaw just came off the concussion protocol.
Thankfully, this positional group is awfully deep, especially considering only two backers typically take the field for roughly 60 percent of defensive snaps.
The real challenge is figuring out the reserve depth behind the starting trio of Warner, Greenlaw and Kwon Alexander. One of the risers during training camp has been converted safety Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, who could challenge for a backup spot and potentially push someone like Azeez Al-Shaair and/or Joe Walker off the 53-man roster.
It’s likely the Niners keep Mark Nzeocha for his special teams prowess, although it’s never guaranteed a player makes the cut based on that sole ability alone.